12 Hours
by Nymphadora-CullenBAU
Summary: During a custodial interview, Hotchner and Prentiss must ask the right questions in order to save a fellow agent from a possible mass murderer. Written for the-vampire-act's Season 5 Finale contest. T for language No F-bombs Also Rossi and Reid-Centric.


_**I… Well, I don't know where this came from. I actually had a few ideas, so I decided to just wind them all together into one season finale-esque fanfiction. By the way, this is an entry for the-vampire-act's contest; it was kind of cool of her to do this. Thanks, honey!**_

_**The italics quotes (other than the TS Eliot quote) are from 2x15 Revelations, and are part of some flashbacks Reid has during the experience.**_

_**I don't own Criminal Minds; I just watch the show on A&E, ION and CBS.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

+++**+++**+++

_Oh my soul… be prepared for him who knows how to ask questions. ~ T.S Eliot_

"Agent Prentiss, Agent Hotchner. Nice of you two to come." Warden Mitch Davis, a portly man with a balding head and full moustache, waved them over to his desk. "I believe you are here to see Cameron James, our notorious mass murderer?"

"Yes; he's agreed to be interviewed for the VICAP survey before he's executed." Hotch confirmed as Davis led him and Emily into an interrogation room.

"Yes, yes," Davis muttered, sounding distracted. "I've read some of the studies and paper done by some of the greatest profilers of the time, including your co-worker, Agent David Rossi. I find his books enlightening. I've also read a few papers done by another of your Agents… a Dr. Spencer Reid, I believe?"

"Yes, that's Reid," Emily Prentiss replied. "He's very good at this sort of thing."

"Yes…. Well, here we are; I'll allow the two of you to set up, and I'll bring Cameron in here in a moment."

+++**+++**+++

**12 Hours Remaining**

"I'll have… the Choco-Caramel Latte. Make it a large, please?" Spencer Reid told the pretty, young clerk at the local coffee shop. She smiled at him, flashing her teeth before turning toward her partner, a young man with floppy blonde hair, who immediately busied himself with making Reid's drink.

Reid, meanwhile, took a seat by one of the large windows across from the counter, and looked around the coffee shop at the other patrons. A brunette college student from Georgetown sat in the corner, bent over a laptop computer, fingers flying as she worked to finish an assignment for a class. A young, teenage girl sat at a table near the front, reading a book; Reid saw the book title as _The Complete Works of W.B Yeats_, and she seemed completely engrossed. Two business men were eating lunch near the display of coffee bags for sale, talking about their occupation; Reid noticed that one of them had a folded copy of _The Washington Post_ on the left side of his plate.

The pretty woman from the counter came up to Reid with his cup of coffee, smiling again. "Here you go," she said, setting the cup in front of the profiler with a wink. "Can I get you anything else?" she asked.

"No, but thank you," Reid said. "She smiled once more, and walked back to the counter just as another man came into the coffee shop. Reid noticed that he was tall, with shaggy, curly black hair, and icy blue eyes. His chin was pointed, and his skin was pale. He wore a black trench coat, black pants and a red bandanna around his neck.

As soon as the guy approached the bar, Reid sensed, without knowing why, that something was wrong. His suspicions were confirmed when the man pulled a large handgun from his pocket, and fired into the ceiling.

"Get down!" He roared. "On the floor! Nothing funny, or I'll blow you all to hell!"

The coffee shop patrons had all dived from their chairs as soon as the first shots were fired; only one of the businessmen and the young man behind the counter were still up, but when the man had voiced his opinion, they too lowered themselves to the floor.

Then, the UnSub began walking around the café, keeping his gun in front of him, and sweeping it around, as if he was about to shoot someone. He went behind the counter, and herded the two employees from behind the counter to join the patrons. Then he began to pair them off; Reid was forced at gunpoint to sit with the girl, who moments before had been pursuing the poetic works of Yeats; one of the businessmen was paired up with the man from behind the bar, and the other was put together with the Georgetown student. The female employee, meanwhile, was shoved into Reid's group.

"It's alright," Reid found himself whispering.

"What do you mean?" the Yeats-girl whispered. "He's got a gun, and has our lives in his hands. If we try anything, we could die."

"I'm FBI," Reid whispered. "I can call my team, and they will come and get this guy. We're profilers."

"FBI?" the female employee asked, surprised. "I thought you taught at Georgetown."

"No, I don't," Reid replied.

"SHUT UP!" Screamed the UnSub as he brandished his weapon at the trio.

"Wait," whispered Yeats-girl, as soon as the UnSub turned away. "If your FBI, then don't you have…" she looked up at the UnSub, who was now shouting at one of the businessmen. "You know, a gun?"

"Yeah, I do," Reid answered. "But I don't think it'll be much use."

+++**+++**+++

**10 Hours Remaining**

"Anyone seen Reid?" JJ asked as she walked into the bullpen.

"No, I haven't, at least. Maybe Rossi did. Why?" Morgan asked.

"I just looked on the news; his usual coffee shop was just attacked by a gunman." JJ answered. "I'm having Garcia look into the security system, but it looks like he may have just missed…" JJ trailed off as Garcia scrambled into the bullpen from her computer cavern. Tears were streaming down her face, her mascara smudged and lips pouting.

"I- I just got hold of the security cameras," Garcia whispered, handing them to JJ. At that moment, Rossi burst from his office, concern etched on his face.

"What's happening?"

"Reid's usual coffee shop was just taken over by a gunman."

"I just got the call about the coffee shop," Rossi said. "DC Metro wants us down there now to get the guy to surrender. All the guy wants is a call to the Federal Prison in Norfolk."

"What about Hotch and Prentiss?" Morgan asked. "They're at Norfolk."

"They'll be fine."

+++**+++**+++

**9 Hours Remaining**

"So tell me about why you chose Staci Hale, Cameron." Hotch pressed. "What was so special about her?"

"You're asking me the wrong questions, Agent." Cameron, a burly, muscular raven-haired man said, sitting at the interrogation table. He glanced around for a moment. "Could you tell me what time it is?"

Prentiss looked at her watch. "Just after noon."

Cameron nodded. "It's just as I suspected."

"What are you talking about?" Hotch said.

Cameron smiled. "At approximately 9:30 this morning, my brother Daniel took over a small coffee shop somewhere in DC. If I remember correctly, one of your agents, a certain Dr. Reid, like to buy his coffee from this particular café."

"If you…" Hotch began.

No need to threaten me, Agent Hotchner," Cameron began, "I'm not going to do anything to your agent. But if you don't start asking the right questions, your agent may not make it through today with his life."

"What do you want us to know?" Emily asked. She was quietly fuming, and wanted nothing more than to give the monster sitting in front of her a piece of her mind. Reid was one of the last people Emily wanted in the line of fire. He was young, younger than her, but she had developed a kinship with him over the years; to her, Spencer was her little brother, and she would do anything to protect him.

"First," Cameron said. "I want a phone call to the coffee shop."

+++**+++**+++

**9 ½ Hours Remaining**

"I said, CLEAN IT UP!" The UnSub screamed before hitting the businessman over the head with his gun. The girl from Georgetown let out another whimper as the man fell to the floor, his head bleeding copious amounts of blood.

Within the past few minutes, the UnSub had taken everyone's wallets, and Reid's gun, upon realizing that he had a gun; Reid's side still hurt from when the UnSub had kicked him when he thought Reid hadn't given his gun up quickly enough.

While doing so, the other businessman had tried to crawl toward the door; the UnSub had spotted him, and had shot Reid's gun, which he had in his hands at the moment. The first businessman now lay in a heap off to the side of the door, clearly dead, and the other businessman was being forced to clean up his friend's blood with cleaning supplies. The girl from Georgetown was crying, and the male employee was trying to comfort her as best he could.

"This is getting out of hand," the Yeats-girl, who had introduced herself as Maggie, whispered. "I- I really don't w-wanna die! I've…." She trailed off, tears leaking down her face.

Isabella, the cashier, was curled up, watching the UnSub wave his gun around, and shook her head. "Why aren't they helping us?" She asked Reid.

"They'll be here," Reid said as he looked out the window; he hadn't seen the police cruisers arrive, and his heart leapt at the sight of them. But what filled him with more hope was the sight of the black SUV carrying Rossi, Morgan, JJ and Garcia that had just arrived.

"We're gonna be alright."

+++**+++**+++

**9 ¼ Hours Remaining**

"Agents," a man stepped forward, shaking hands with Rossi as he walked into the Command Center across the street from the coffee shop. "I'm Jacob Shepard, the SWAT team leader. Hopefully, I can help you guys get your agent, those civilians and the shooter out of there unharmed." Shepard paused, looking at Rossi. "This guy's very unstable; he killed a man who was trying to make a break for the door. However, it appears to be locked, as the shooter locked it when he walked in."

"And I've just identified him," Garcia said as she walked in, carrying her laptop. "I set up as soon as I was in range of the coffee shop's Wi-Fi, and got a hit. Daniel James, brother of Cameron James, the convict that Hotch and Prentiss are interviewing now. I'm running his file through VICAP, AFIS, INTERPOL, the works. If he's done anything dirty besides this, I will find it, I will see it, and it will make him go into an ugly little concrete room for a very long time-out like his scumbag brother."

"Baby girl," Morgan said, "How many times have I told you how amazingly brilliant you are."

"Never enough times, Chocolate Thunder God."

"The let me say it again," He replied. "You are a GODDESS, woman!"

Garcia smiled. "Don't worry, crime-fighters, I'll be working away at pinning this son of a bitch; you lovelies concentrate on getting my magical genius boy home safe and sound."

"Will do, Penelope."

As soon as Garcia had left the room, Morgan's smile faltered slightly. "Is he…"

"He hasn't answered the phone, except at the beginning, to order us to give him a hookup to Norfolk Federal, and to say that we had twelve hours to do it."

"Try calling him again," Rossi said. "I'm gonna see if I can get him to talk."

+++**+++**+++

**8 Hours Remaining**

Reid sat on the ground next to Isabella, who had started crying. Maggie, meanwhile, had stopped crying, and was now leaning against the window, her head on Reid's shoulder.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

Reid nodded, not that he wasn't scared; there was always a possibility that they wouldn't survive on the job, he knew that from experience… Dowd… The Fisher King… Frank… Tobias Hankel… Owen Savage… New York… Cyrus… Brown's Anthrax strain… Getting shot…. He, Spencer Reid, could understand that dying was a daily possibility.

But these people didn't know what that was like; some of them were just kids, basically; the businessmen were young, about to start climbing the cooperate ladder, and now one of them was dead. Reid wondered for a moment if he had had a family….

The phone on the counter started ringing, and the UnSub, obviously filled with rage, yanked it from the cradle, and turned it on speakerphone.

"Daniel James, my name is David Rossi, and I'm with the FBI." Rossi's smooth voice came from over the phone; Reid found it very comforting. "What I want you to do is very simple: You have six hostages inside that coffee shop with you. I want you to send them out one at a time, and as soon as the last one comes out, I'll let you talk to your brother."

"NO!" James hissed. "They're my ticket to hearing him. I can't trust you."

"You can trust me, Daniel."

"YOU LIE!"

A memory suddenly came to Reid

"_I'm not a liar."_

"_Lying's a sin."_

"_I'm not a liar."_

"_Confess your sins!"_

"_I don't have anything to confess!"_

"No, no, Daniel, listen to me. I can get your brother for you. I can call the Prison he's staying at, and you can talk to him. Just let the hostages go."

"I want him on the phone in six hours. If he isn't, I'll kill a hostage."

James hung up, glancing around the room. "WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT?!" He yelled.

Reid felt sick, and the feeling wasn't lost as another unbidden memory came to mind.

"_What are you starin' at, boy?"_

"…_You're not Raphael."_

"_Do I look like Raphael?"_

Reid took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. This was already looking bad; he didn't need to be remembering past cases, too.

**6 Hours Remaining**

"What questions do you want us to ask?" Hotch roared at Cameron, slamming his fist down on the table. He, along with Prentiss, had spent the last hour, interrogating this guy on WHAT questions he wanted asked, but Cameron hadn't budged.

Cameron smiled. "Now we're getting somewhere, Agent," he said sardonically. "And if you want an answer to your question, how about you start asking about my brother. The one who took over that little coffee shop with your agent in it. I wonder how he's farin,' seeing as my brother can be a bit… violent." Cameron smirked as he looked at the Agents

"What do you mean?" Prentiss asked.

"I mean, sweetie," Cameron said, "That my brother was the one who killed those women, not me. I took the fall for it; and since then I've been rotting away in this hell-hole, waiting for the day they put that needle in my arm. Meanwhile, the real killer walks free, and appears to be enjoying his spot in a café with an FBI agent."

"Is that right?" Hotch hissed.

Cameron nodded. "To be fair, the night you arrested me, I was trying to stop my brother; I hadn't realized that the oaf had been the one killing those people, and when I saw him over those people, I chased him off, tried to clean it up. You surrounded me, took me to the station, and put me in a concrete room. Naturally, I 'fessed; I was already there, I'd take the blame. I used my phone call to make sure my brother stopped… Apparently he did, until now." Cameron paused, as if thinking over his words. "Listen, Agent, do me a favor, will ya?"

"What is it?" Hotch asked.

"Make sure my murderin' scumbag of a brother gets it where it needs to go. If I'm going down, he's coming with me."

+++**+++**+++

**4 Hours Remaining**

"He's not answering the phone, Agent Rossi," Shepard said, putting the phone down. "Didn't answer when we called the first time, wouldn't answer two hours ago, and he won't answer now."

He answered when we first arrived," Rossi pointed out.

"Yeah," Shepard agreed. "But only to repeat his demands and threaten to kill a hostage if it isn't done soon." He sighed. "I say we just go in. Shoot this guy in the face, and rescue everyone who's inside."

"If we do that, then more people are gonna die." Morgan snarled, turning away from the dark coffee shop windows. "Shouldn't we meet his demands? Let him speak to his brother for a minute?"

At that moment, Morgan's cell phone rang. He pulled it off his belt, glanced at the Caller ID and answered it.

"Hotch, you out? …Good…. He's not answering the phone, and SWAT's getting antsy…. How long? …I don't know; it's dark in there, but Shepard, the SWAT team leader, confirmed that there's a dead hostage…. No, it's not him, but, this guy is a total psycho, man…. You're kidding…. He WHAT?! …Now we're gonna have to go in, if that's even true…. All right, I'll see about having them wait… Yeah, see you in a bit." Morgan hung up the phone.

"What is it?" JJ asked as she walked into the Command Center; she had just released a statement for the press, and looked all-business.

"Hotch called." Morgan said. "Cameron James didn't kill those people; it was our…"

"GUYS!" Garcia cried, racing into the Command Center. "Cameron James wasn't the killer, it was his brother Daniel James. I matched the fingerprints from the victims to Cameron. It didn't match, but it suggested that the killer may be a close blood relative. So I took a deep breath, looked at pictures of puppies, kittens, baby deer and my collection of Photoshopped pictures of my Chocolate Lover, and then dived back into the creepy and disgusting world of Cameron James, only to come out with his equally creepy and maybe a bit more disgusting brother Daniel."

"We'll wait for Agents Hotchner and Prentiss," Shepard said, but as soon as they arrive, we're going--"

He was interrupted by the Command Center phone ringing.

+++**+++**+++

**4-3 Hours Remaining**

As soon as they were on the road, Hotch called Morgan.

"Morgan, it's Hotch… Yes, we're out… Is Daniel James cooperating? …We're almost there…. About 45 minutes tops. Has anything happened?"

Prentiss noticed that Hotch's face paled at whatever Morgan said next. "Derek, tell me right now, was it…. Okay, good. Listen to me, Morgan, Cameron James is an innocent man…. His brother Daniel was the killer…. I understand that, but try to hold off until we get there; you'll need the manpower…. See you when we get back." He hung up quickly, pushing his foot down on th pedal.

"Hotch, what was that?" Prentiss asked.

"Daniel James killed a hostage. It wasn't Reid, but the SWAT team doesn't want to risk anymore lives. As soon as we get there, they're going to go in."

"How much longer do they have left?"

"Not long."

+++**+++**+++

**3 Hours Remaining**

Reid watched in horror as Isabella was dragged from their corner toward the phone. She started crying again, begging for mercy, and Spencer felt a sharp stab of guilt and fear for the girl. And another memory came to his mind.

"_Choose one to die."_

"_I won't choose who get slaughtered, and have you leave their remains behind like a poacher."_

"_Choose one to die, save a life, otherwise they're all dead."_

"_No."_

"_Your team members. Choose one to die."_

"… _I choose…."_

NO.

Red saw James dialing the phone, and then putting it on speaker phone.

"Where is he?" James snarled as soon as Rossi had picked up.

At the same time, Reid noticed that his gun lay discarded on a nearby table. He motioned for Maggie to move, and started crawling toward his gun.

"I told you, Daniel; you need to release the hostages before I allow you to talk to your brother."

"Well, because you wouldn't listen to me, I'm about to get rid of one of them myself. I may even take out that scrawny kid that was with her."

By this time, Reid had reached the table where his gun lay, and he picked it up gingerly before standing up, aiming it at James' back, and walking toward him.

"I hope you know it was your fault, you--"

"FBI! Drop your weapon, and let her go!" Reid yelled. "Now!"

+++**+++**+++

"I told you, Daniel," Rossi said into the headset. "You need to release the hostages before I allow you to talk to your brother." He could hear the soft crying of a young woman. James had a victim lined up for them.

"Well, because you wouldn't listen to me, I'm about to get rid of one of them myself. I may even take out that scrawny kid that was with her."

Rossi felt sick; he was pretty sure James was talking about Reid; when they had identified the hostages, one of them, Michael Young, had been one of the employees working the counter at the time. His picture implied that Young was anything but scrawny.

"Listen to yourself, Daniel," Rossi implored. "You want to take an innocent life, when your brother asked you not to. I don't understand why you would do such a thing like betray your own brother; he's all you have left in the world, and he's about to die for crimes he didn't commit. He's going to die for your crimes, Daniel, and instead of living the life he wanted you to lead, you're in a café with six hostages, five kids and a businessman, and you intend to kill them all. What went wrong, Daniel?"

Rossi waited with bated breath, hoping that Daniel would see reason.

"I hope you know" Daniel finally whispered "it was your fault, you--"

Suddenly, a voice that Rossi had been waiting all night to hear echoed over the connection; he was glad to know that his youngest agent was still alive.

"FBI! Drop your weapon, and let her go! Now!" Reid's voice implied over the speaker.

+++**+++**+++

As soon as Spencer Reid had spoken, four things happened in quick succession

First, Isabella, broke away from James and ran behind the counter of the coffee shop. The male employee, Maggie, the Georgetown student and the remaining businessman followed suit.

Second, SWAT burst in through the front door, followed by Rossi, Morgan and JJ, guns raised and ready to fire. At the same time, James had raised his gun, hand on the trigger, eyes staring at the people around him.

Third, Reid fell into one last memory…

"_There's only one bullet in that gun, boy!"_

And finally, SSA Dr. Spencer Reid pulled the trigger

+++**+++**+++

**3 Hours Remaining**

Hotch and Prentiss pulled up to the edge of the blockade; on one side there was the coffee shop, and the other was the empty storefront serving as a base for the hostage situation at the coffee shop.

Hotch pulled out his cell phone as he and Prentiss stepped from the car….

A second later, they looked up to see the coffee shop was ablaze in gunfire, screams shattering the night and the acrid smell of gunpowder in the air.

"Reid…."

+++**+++**+++

A/N: Wow!

Let me just say that this was… very interesting to pull off. I hope you enjoyed.

Please review!

*~N_CBAU~*


End file.
